Winter Nights 2008
by AnotherAlice
Summary: Set at the conclusion of the Winter Nights 2008 event. Tesel and Abel butt heads. Again. But, this time, with a surprising consequence.


**Disclaimer:** I own no right to the characters, setting, or original storyline from Menewsha Online. This is written for fun! Please don't sue me!

The outcome of the Winter Nights event hasn't been determined yet so I'm going with fictional speculation that fits my purposes. :3

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The turn of the new year had come and the end of the Great Snowman Contest brought very little change to Menewsha. Mr. Mayor had wrapped up the contest with the expected grandeur that had become so commonplace and he declared everyone the rightful winners of the contest. Most of the residents were relatively pleased and jovial with this edict despite the winning team's boasts and cheers that still rang down the dusk colored streets of the town. One particular individual didn't share the same sentiments and had now made her way down an alleyway heading away from the cries.

"I can't believe the red team won! I just can't!" Tesel muttered, stuffing her hands deeper into her coat pockets and kicked a snow drift. "Vicky's team won!?"

She had left the festivities to cool her head before she ended up hurting some poor, victory-drunk sap for saying a few words too many. She had tried really hard to help the blue team win but, despite her efforts, the team had only come in a close third place. Nalin's green team had beat them to second place by mere handfuls of half melted snow.

She kicked another snowdrift. Hard.

"Ow, goddammit!" Tesel jerked over and grabbed her foot, hissing lightly. Someone had left a pile of bricks out by the trash for pickup and they become a secret added ingredient in the snow.

"I'm not surprised. You really don't think that far ahead, do you? With that dumb brute mentality of yours..." A light tenor voice echoed down the cooridor. Tesel straighted up quickly, hissing and taking a sharp intake of breath. The pain in her toes would have to wait until later. For now, it was important to show up the sudden, snarky guest.

"What I do with my foot is my own business, tightpants. At least I'm not sneaking around like some filthy mugger." Tesel spat, gritting her teeth. The pain had mostly subsided except for a dull ache-- dull enough for her to start walking again. She picked up her pace and didn't dare turn around to catch a glimpse of the icy haired elf. She cautiously made the next few steps down the alley, careful not to jar her foot more than she had to, before stopping. The silence started to make her ears ring. "Don't you have magic beans to sell or a goose that lays golden eggs to feed? Some glitter to sprinkle on some pantyhose and clothes hangers for wings?"

A tall shadow appeared by the corner of the building and as Tesel's eyes adjusted to light, Abel's features eventually became clear.

"Why the hell are you leaving the celebration? I thought you'd want to at least rub it into the yellow team's faces on how you "defeated" them and all of that business." Abel stated flatly, eyes looking disinterested.

"What do you think? Vicky's there gloating about the power of loooove. My stomach was churning so hard I though I was going to throw up on poor Nami."

"That's a sorry excuse. Our team worked hard and the least you could do is take the time to properly thank them, you ingrate. And that means not whimpering home with your tail tucked between those stubby legs of yours"

Tesel's ears reddened and the fine hairs on the back of her neck bristled. She directed a cold glare at Abel and jabbed a finger at him threateningly, "What would you know about thanking people, huh? You rush onto Menewsha all of a sudden, take up shop, and barely talk to a living soul until its convenient or absolutely necessary for you. Call me an ingrate? Me?!"

The elf's eyebrows furrowed and a snarl began to grace his face, "What I do is my own business. Quit being such a bitch when you don't want to answer the hard facts."

A tense, pregnant moment passed as the two glowered at each other. The sun dipped a little lower in the distant bay and gently the day light faded until only the crescent moon illuminated the snow in a ghostly fashion.

The silence finally broke when an ice sickle crashed from a nearby rooftop, sending slivers of ice rebounding off of their pants legs.

Tesel broke eye contact and made a effort to step past Abel, as he was blocking the path towards her shop and home. The tall figure took a step into her path. A frustrated noise and step in the opposite direction. Another block.

"Will you MOVE, already?! You oaf!"

"I thought you said you always won. Why did you give up?"

"When did I give up, huh?! I was shoveling snow as hard or harder than you were!"

"No, you idiot. Just now."

Tesel's eyes widened slightly and her face jerked to meet Abel in a momentary shocked gaze.

"I-I didn't just give up on anything. I'm not in the mood for a contest to see who can freeze their ass off faster." She huffed, eyes darting away again.

Abel's gaze stray, seemingly finding the brick of the adjacent building more interesting than ever, "..."

Another moment passed and the air grew more chill.

Tesel returned her gaze to him, brows knit in frustration and annoyance, "Are you gonna say something or MOVE ALREADY?"

Abel returned his gaze to her, eyes alight with something Tesel hadn't seen before. Her expression softened and her hands fisted in their coat pockets.

"W-well?!" came her stuttered demand.

Abel tilted his head, face soft and cheeks reddened by the brisk cold, "...like you have an ass to freeze off."

Tesel felt a vein pop in her skull and all she could remember was her arms bolting out and shoving the magician as hard as she could. A sudden trip on a pile of bricks. An arm grabbing her jacket sleeve. An awkward pile of limbs and a shock of cold snow making its way up her nose.

A moment later, she lifted her head enough to snort, trying to clear her nose from the offending material. Something was warm, sinewy, and dry beneath her.

A dry chuckle burst out from a horizontal silver haired jerk who had pulled her down with him. An arm encircled her shoulders. She rested her head in the crook of his neck for a moment before biting out, "You are a MORON."

Another quiet moment passed.

The sudden twitter of voices coming around the corner caused the pair to jump up in another tangle of limbs and bruised foreheads, knees, and stomachs. A few blue team members rounded the corner and stopped, staring at the blue team shopkeepers.

"Hey, what are you two doing out here?!" one called, "Its cold enough to freeze your nuts off just standing around!"

Tesel and Abel exchanged quick, panicked expressions. An awkward moment passed between the two groups of Menewshans on opposite ends of the dark, snow covered alleyway.

Tesel then punched Abel in the face.


End file.
